Editing Natural History (Pliny) (section)

==Overview==
[[File:Plinius t y Venezia 1499 IMG 3886.JPG|thumb|Copy of {{Lang|la|Naturalis Historia}} printed by Johannes Alvisius in 1499 in [[Venice]], Italy]]

Pliny's ''Natural History'' was written alongside other substantial works (which have since been [[Lost literary work|lost]]). Pliny (AD 23–79) combined his scholarly activities with a busy career as an imperial administrator for the emperor [[Vespasian]]. Much of his writing was done at night; daytime hours were spent working for the emperor, as he explains in the dedicatory preface addressed to Vespasian's elder son, the future emperor [[Titus]], with whom he had served in the army (and to whom the work is dedicated). As for the nocturnal hours spent writing, these were seen not as a loss of sleep but as an addition to life, for as he states in the preface, ''Vita vigilia est'', "to be alive is to be watchful", in a military metaphor of a sentry keeping watch in the night.<ref name=PlinyDedication>''Natural History''. Dedication to Titus: C. Plinius Secundus to his Friend Titus Vespasian</ref> Pliny claims to be the only Roman ever to have undertaken such a work, in his prayer for the blessing of the universal mother:<ref name=EB1911>{{EB1911 |wstitle=Pliny the Elder |volume=21 |pages=841–844 |first=John Edwin |last=Sandys |author-link=John Sandys (classicist) |inline=1}}</ref><ref>''Natural History''  XXXVII:77</ref>

<blockquote>
Hail to thee, Nature, thou parent of all things! and do thou deign to show thy favour unto me, who, alone of all the citizens of Rome, have, in thy every department, thus made known thy praise.
</blockquote>

The ''Natural History'' is encyclopaedic in scope, but its format is unlike a modern [[encyclopaedia]]. However, it does have structure: Pliny uses [[Aristotle's taxonomy|Aristotle's division of nature]] (animal, vegetable, mineral) to recreate the natural world in literary form.<ref>"Introduction" to ''Natural History'', Bks. I–II, [[Loeb Classical Library]] (rev. ed. 1989), pp. vii-x.</ref> Rather than presenting compartmentalised, stand-alone entries arranged alphabetically, Pliny's ordered natural landscape is a coherent whole, offering the reader a guided tour: "a brief excursion under our direction among the whole of the works of nature&nbsp;..."<ref>''Natural History''  VIII:44 (Loeb)</ref> The work is unified but varied: "My subject is the world of nature&nbsp;... or in other words, life," he tells Titus.<ref name=PlinyDedication/>

[[File:Schedel'sche Weltchronik-Dog head.jpg|thumb|left|A [[Cynocephaly|cynocephalus]], or dog-head, as described by Pliny in his ''Natural History''. From the ''[[Nuremberg Chronicle]]'' (''1493'').]]

Nature for Pliny was divine, a [[pantheism|pantheistic]] concept inspired by the [[Stoicism|Stoic]] [[philosophy]], which underlies much of his thought, but the deity in question was a goddess whose main purpose was to serve the human race: "nature, that is life" is human life in a natural landscape. After an initial survey of [[cosmology]] and [[geography]], Pliny starts his treatment of animals with the human race, "for whose sake great Nature appears to have created all other things".<ref>''Natural History''  VII:1 (Rackham et al.)</ref> This [[teleology|teleological]] view of nature was common in antiquity and is crucial to the understanding of the ''Natural History''.<ref>''Natural History'' VII</ref> The components of nature are not just described in and for themselves, but also with a view to their role in human life. Pliny devotes a number of the books to plants, with a focus on their medicinal value; the books on minerals include descriptions of their uses in [[architecture]], [[sculpture]], [[art]], and [[jewellery]]. Pliny's premise is distinct from modern [[ecology|ecological]] theories, reflecting the prevailing sentiment of his time.<ref>"Introduction" to ''Natural History'', Books III-VII, Loeb Classical Library (rev. ed. 1989), pp. xi-xiii.</ref>

[[File:Nuremberg chronicles - Strange People - Umbrella Foot (XIIr).jpg|thumb|A [[sciapod]], described by Pliny in his ''Natural History'', from the ''[[Nuremberg Chronicle]]'' (1493)]]

Pliny's work frequently reflects Rome's imperial expansion, which brought new and exciting things to the capital: exotic eastern spices, strange animals to be put on display or herded into the arena, even the alleged [[Phoenix (mythology)|phoenix]] sent to the emperor [[Claudius]] in AD 47 – although, as Pliny admits, this was generally acknowledged to be a fake. Pliny repeated Aristotle's maxim that [[Africa]] was always producing something new. Nature's variety and versatility were claimed to be infinite: "When I have observed nature she has always induced me to deem no statement about her incredible."<ref>''Natural History''  XI:2 (Rackham et al.)</ref> This led Pliny to recount rumours of strange peoples on the edges of the world.{{efn|Cf. Pliny's consideration of Aristotle, as well as modern criticism of Pliny's work, in Trevor Murphy, ''Pliny the Elder's Natural History: The Empire in the Encyclopedia'', OUP (2004), pp.&nbsp;1–27, 194–215.}} These monstrous races – the [[Cynocephali]] or Dog-Heads, the [[Monopod (creature)|Sciapodae]], whose single foot could act as a sunshade, the mouthless [[Astomi]], who lived on scents – were not strictly new. They had been mentioned in the fifth century BC by Greek historian [[Herodotus]] (whose history was a broad mixture of [[myths]], [[legend]]s, and facts), but Pliny made them better known.<ref>''Natural History'' VII:2</ref>

"As full of variety as nature itself",<ref>[[Pliny the Younger]], ''Letters'',  [http://www.attalus.org/old/pliny3.html#5 3.5]</ref> stated Pliny's nephew, [[Pliny the Younger]], and this verdict largely explains the appeal of the ''Natural History'' since Pliny's death in the [[Eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79]]. Pliny had gone to investigate the strange cloud – "shaped like an umbrella pine", according to his nephew – rising from the mountain.<ref>[[Pliny the Younger]], ''Letters'',  [http://www.attalus.org/old/pliny6.html#16 6.16]</ref>

The ''Natural History'' was one of the first ancient European texts to be printed, in [[Venice]] in 1469.<ref name=Healy39>Healy, 2004. Introduction:xxxix</ref> [[Philemon Holland]]'s English translation of 1601 has influenced literature ever since.<ref name=Healy39/>